Anonymous

Chapter Two (#u63fe8423-9dc7-5b22-9582-4d7d7c62b13f)

Ali stepped out of her shoes as she walked through the door, grateful for the freedom to wiggle her toes for a moment. Dropping her bag on a chair in the foyer, she pulled the mail from under her elbow, where she’d tucked it on her way into the apartment building she now called home. She threw the small stack onto the coffee table, along with the bag of Chinese food, and was relieved when she was finally able to push the wet hair out of her face. She went to change into something dry and comfortable, her thoughts once again turning to Mark—as if they’d strayed from him for one second since seeing him.

She used to love coming home on nights like this. Memories of Mark waiting for her, the two of them snuggling under a warm blanket, watching movies, listening to the rain pound against the windows, assailed her. Coming home then had been cozy, comforting. Coming home now was just lonely. She pushed the thoughts from her mind, creating a barrier of resolve to keep them from sneaking up on her.

When she returned to the living room, in her comfy sweats and oversized men’s shirt, she spread her dinner and laptop on the coffee table. Pulling her unruly mass of wet hair back into a ponytail, she picked up the phone.

Kendra answered on the first ring. “Hi, Ali. Is everything okay?”

Ali took a deep breath. Was everything okay? She didn’t have an answer. “Do you have a minute?”

“Sure.”

The kids fought in the background. A man spoke.

Her earlier annoyance with Kendra for pushing her about dating was forgotten. “You can call me back later.”

“Are you sure? You sound like something’s wrong.”

“Yeah, it’s no big deal. I ran into Mark at Lin’s.” She left out the fact he’d been arm in arm with another woman. A younger woman. Kendra obviously didn’t have time for that conversation, but Ali had no doubt she’d make time if she knew the truth.

“How’d it go?”

“Fine.” She shrugged. “It is what it is.”

A loud crash sounded in her ear.

“What are you two doing in there?” The reprimand was muffled, as if Kendra had placed a hand over the receiver. Her friend obviously had her hands full at the moment.

“Go check on them, Kendra. I’ll give you a call back later.”

“You sure?”

“Positive. I was just looking to do a little man-bashing. We can do it another time.”

Kendra’s laughter warmed Ali. She was fortunate to have such a good friend.

“Let me get hubby out and the kids to bed. I’ll grab some ice cream, and we can spend a good hour trashing men.”

“Sounds good. I’ll talk to you then.” Ali disconnected the call. She sat with the phone in her hand for another minute before realizing there was no one else she wanted to talk to. Tossing the phone onto the couch, she turned on the computer. While she ate, she checked her business e-mail. The rain poured down the windows, creating a blurred curtain that reflected the lights of the city. Random thoughts bounced erratically through her head, but when she realized they were all work related, she shoved the empty tray aside with disgust.

She looked at the cozy outfit she wore, the very one Mark had complained so much about.

“Why can’t you ever dress in something sexy?” he’d asked time and time again.

“I’m exhausted when I come home at the end of the day. I just want to be comfortable. Besides, you come home and put on comfy clothes, why shouldn’t I?” The more she thought about it now, though, the more she realized maybe she could have worked a little harder to look nice. She quickly altered her train of thought, pushing aside the pain that shattered her heart a little more every time she thought about Mark.

Mark or work. Wasn’t there anything else she could think about? “I really do need to get a life.” Her statement echoed in the empty apartment. Mark had apparently moved on, and if she were honest with herself, she was lonely. Wrapping herself in an afghan, she curled into the corner of the couch with the laptop.

The minute she let her guard down, her thoughts returned to her ex. How many times had they sat together just like this? Him on his laptop, she on hers? She’d always thought it was relaxing, pleasant. She’d enjoyed the easy way they got along and the comfortable silence they shared. Apparently what she’d viewed as familiarity and contentment, he’d seen as boring.

Ali shook her head in disgust. Wasn’t that what he’d told her? The reason he started looking up old girlfriends on the computer? He was bored.

“Bored, my ass.”

This was pointless. All the self-pity in the world wasn’t going to repair the damage to their relationship. Had he left it at contacting women, it might have been salvageable. As it was…

She jabbed the close button with more force than necessary and opened a new window on her computer. “I can’t even believe I’m doing this.” The Anonymous website loaded. Pictures of happy couples, smiling, laughing, walking hand in hand along the beach, brought instant hope. Maybe she’d meet Mr. Wonderful. Even if she didn’t, she could use someone to talk to now and then. Besides, she’d always enjoyed meeting new people; it was fun and exciting.

Having talked herself into doing this, she quickly read through the terms of use and clicked accept before she could change her mind. As the name implied, Anonymous allowed you complete anonymity while you searched for your soul mate. You weren’t allowed to use your real name, post any information that would allow someone to find out who you are, post any pictures or describe yourself in any way. The purpose of the site was to connect with people who shared the same interests, had similar beliefs and to get to know each other before you actually met. You weren’t supposed to meet anyone in person until you’d been “talking” to them for at least three months. She absently wondered how many people actually followed the rules.

Hmm… complete anonymity. She waited for the next page to load. What would it be like to get to know someone she’d never seen? Could she fall in love with someone that way? She liked the privacy and safety the site afforded her, and really wouldn’t have considered any other type of service, but she was starting to get cold feet.

Her thoughts turned to Candi and her perfect appearance. Would Mark have fallen for Candi if he’d met her online without ever having seen her?

With Mark once again foremost in her mind, she filled out the form, hit submit and logged off. She’d probably never log back on. “Jane” would never meet anyone, but at least she’d taken a step forward. Done something new. She pushed the computer away. It was late enough to call Kendra back. Time to do some serious man-bashing. When she spotted the corner of the gray envelope sticking out from beneath the stack of mail, her hand froze halfway to the phone, and her heart stuttered to a stop.

* * *

Joe walked into the house, dumped his shopping bag on the kitchen table and went straight to the computer. He shoved his hand through his hair and thought fleetingly about eating dinner but dismissed the idea when his stomach turned over. Stress was getting the better of him. He had too much going on in his life; a failed marriage, a string of going-nowhere relationships, work and his father’s illness. He couldn’t keep up with it all anymore.

He sat down and signed on to Anonymous. This was stupid. What was he looking for anyway? Did he really think he could find true love on a computer, from a bunch of women he couldn’t even look at? Still, he checked, as he had every night for the past few months. He joined Anonymous on a whim, not really expecting anything much, but every day he signed in hoping to find the one woman who’d be compatible with him.

The number two popped up in the new files box, and his heart soared a little. He clicked on the first file. Karen was looking for fun. She liked sports, cars, hanging out in bars and drinking beer. Delete.

Joe wanted a relationship. All of the women he’d dated lately had just been looking for a good time. Funny, he’d wanted the same thing too, not so long ago, had even given up his marriage to have it. Now he just wanted to settle down, have someone to come home to, someone to share his life with. So why was he wasting his time on the computer?

He clicked on the second file. Jane enjoyed walking on the beach, long talks and meeting and getting to know new people. Hmm…maybe. If nothing else, it’d be nice to have someone to talk to, an escape from reality. He hit respond and typed: Hi, Jane. How are you? I’d like to get to know you.

With no clue what else he should write, he hit send and logged off. How had he made such a mess of his life? The ringing of the phone interrupted his thoughts, and he groaned. A phone call at this time of night meant bad news.

“Hello?”

“Can you come over?”

“What’s wrong, Mom? Is Dad all right?” His heart raced. His father’s health was going downhill rapidly.

“He says his chest hurts.”

“I’ll be right there.” He grabbed his keys and ran out the door.

Chapter Three (#u63fe8423-9dc7-5b22-9582-4d7d7c62b13f)

Fear clawed its way up her throat as she reached for the envelope. She wasn’t supposed to open it, but she had to be sure it was from him. At least, she assumed it was a man sending her the death threats. Her hands shook as she pushed the other mail aside in an effort to see the plain, gray envelope. There were no markings, no return address, just her name and address printed in neat block letters in the center of the envelope. The same neat block lettering that had adorned the first three.

Her hands shook so badly, it took three attempts before she was able to dial Detective Sturgis’ number.

“Hello?”